ANSA news

CEI,Minority protection in East Europe crucial for stability

Fri, 10/10/2014 - 16:47

(ANSA) - TRIESTE - "The system of protecting minorities in
Central, Eastern and Southeastern Europe is of crucial
importance for maintaining the stability in the region", said
the CEI Alternate Secretary General, Margit Waestfelt, on the
sidelines of the Seminar dedicated to minorities, organised by
the Austrian CEI Presidency and the CEI Executive Secretariat in
Trieste on the occasion of the 20th Anniversary of the CEI
Instrument for the Protection of the Minority Rights. Waestfelt
reminded that, at the time of its creation, during the war in
former Yugoslavia, the CEI Instrument was one of the first and
most relevant attempts to provide a systematic legal framework
for this sensitive issue at a multilateral level.
"The CEI, with its 18 member countries, is well positioned and
can address the issue of minority rights also through the
implementation of specific projects dedicated to this topic - we
are thus interested in receiving project proposals which put
focus on these goals," Waestfelt added.
For his part, Italian Senator Francesco Palermo stressed the
importance of this kind of events for further developing the
complementarity of the various initiatives and instruments
operating at the international level with the common goal.
"We are not just looking at the pieces of paper and what to do
with them 20 years later because the World has changed, but in
practice how are respects for rights evolving and where do we
need additional work," said Ilze Brands Kheris, former OSCE High
Commissioner on National Minorities. She also reminded of the
importance of the process of European integration for improving
minority rights, both at the legislative and at the practical
level.
"The window of opportunity for the countries who are joining the
EU in shorter or longer perspectives is a key moment in time -
we have this experience from those member states who joined in
2004 and 2007 - therefore it is a moment that is essential to
use", Kheris added, while referring to the main mission of the
CEI - promoting European integration and serving as a bridge
between EU and non-EU countries.
"The more a country is organised in a federal way and gives
space to minorities and autonomies - the more secure it becomes
because it can prevent and attenuate the scission tendencies",
said regional law expert Oskar Peterlini, also present at the
meeting. (ANSA).

In brief

Founded in 1989, the CEI is a regional intergovernmental forum committed to supporting European integration through cooperation among its Member States.
It combines multilateral diplomacy and project management, both as donor and recipient, while bridging European macro-regions.